Tonight's champion will get the hold the title of $750,000 guaranteed Sunday Warm-up champion for nearly the entire month of September. If you read here regularly and play at PokerStars there may have been a few hints left about the upcoming celebration of online poker known as the $50,000,000 guaranteed WCOOP. Bracelets and stacks of cash to be won for the better part of September in place of our normal Sunday majors, so as a going away party 4,236 players showed up with their $215 buy-ins and 630 of them got a little slice of cash back. Among those cashing were Team PokerStars pro Pete De Korver ($381.24, 374th place) was he was the only Team PokerStars pro to break through to the cashier's window.

In what seemed like a race to the final table, we went from 18 to 10 in just one level after a series of big pairs vs. big pairs confrontations took places and the players who covered took it down. Down to the final table bubble cautious play trickled in as hand-for-hand play was in effect as our final 10 on two tables played to the 65K/130K ante 13K level with nearly everyone still holding at least 20 big blinds. Raise-shove-fold took place over a dozen times as shorter stacked tollgate tried to shove over the top of Mexitexi's min raise from UTG. Instead tollgate's pocket deuces [2s][2c] got an insta-call from pocket kings [Kd][Ks]. A third duck failed to make an appearance on the [Qc] [Ts] [4d] [As] [4c] board and tollgate would barely miss out on a second Sunday Warm-up final table in 2010 after taking 4th for $45,965.50 back in July (final table write-up here).

Seat 1: melous (4253573 in chips)
Seat 2: citrusjim (4523381 in chips)
Seat 3: Erasmus Hurt (2953676 in chips)
Seat 4: lausfloh (5000588 in chips)
Seat 5: ShiFtYFiNGeR (2767664 in chips)
Seat 6: Don Pedro07 (2663006 in chips)
Seat 7: sabbsezero (8505227 in chips)
Seat 8: Mexitexi (5091109 in chips)
Seat 9: badgergav (6601776 in chips)

Spicy start

MexiTexi would draw first blood as the blinds moved up to 80K/160K ante 16K with a big double up against badgergav. Pocket kings for MexiTexi [Ks][Kd] and pocket jacks [Js] [Jc] for badgergav as both players would flop sets [Kc] [Jh] [5c] but the board decided to make things more interesting with the [6c] turn giving badgergav a shot at a flush. But, instead the [3d] fell and MexiTexi picked up the 6.4 million chip pot while knocking badgergav down to 4.4 million.

Erasmus puts the hurt on lausfloh

When it looked like we would not have an elimination during the 80K/160K ante 16K level Erasmus Hurt led off with a raise to 480K as short-stacked lausfloh had just a little over twice that amount and shoved for 1.07 million. Folded quickly back to Erasmus Hurt who called with pocket rockets [Ad][As]. lausfloh's pocket treys [3d][3c] were in serious trouble and never recovered on the [9d] [6s] [Jc] [6d] [6h] board finishing the tournament in ninth place ($6,777.60).

The 100K/200K ante 20K level would swoosh by without our final table attendance falling any further. Shortly after the switch to the 125K/250K ante 25K level though, MexiTexi built even further on the table's first double up and became the first player to hit eight digits holding a near four million chip lead on Don Pedro07 and six million on third place citrusjim.

High five time

Already saddled with the large lead, MexiTexi took a risk to make it even bigger. After min-raising while still in the 125K/250K ante 25K level with pocket fives [5d][5h], MexiTexi would call the shove of Erasmus Hurt holding [Ah][Kh]. Watch the results of the 5.5 million chip pot below:

Prior to this hand MexiTexi took down four pots in a row preflop with three-bets and raw aggression, this time quad fives would have to do on the [6d] [9c] [5s] [5c] [2d] board as Erasmus Hurt took home eight place money ($10,590.00).

Shifting into fifth gear

After a half-hour of stagnant action, the players suddenly came alive and three hands after Erasmus Hurt took leave, citrusjim would raise to 550K as Don Pedro07 made the call two chairs to his left and badgergav trying to get out of the chip cellar shoved for 1.9 million. citrusjim abandoned ship, but Don Pedro07 would make the call holding pocket eights [8s][8h]. Those eights were two pips above the sixes [6d][6h] in badgergav's hand as the flop would bring an eight [7h] [Ad] [8d] nearly closing out badgergav's night as the [Ks] on the turn formally brought badgergav's night to a close in seventh place ($19,062.00).

Freshly squeezed chips

After doubling up off MexiTexi, citrusjim was not done there as the blinds moved up to 150K/300K ante 30K, he would call melous' small blind raise to 770K to see a [6c] [8s] [5s] flop. Immediately melous shoved for 3.3 million holding middle pair [Jd][6h], and after a little thought citrusjim would make the call holding top pair [Qs][8h]. [4d] on the turn opened up a possible split of the 8.4 million in the middle but the [As] on the river shipped the chip lead to citrusjim who now held over 15 million chips. melous' going away present in sixth place was a healthy $27,534.00 perhaps some funds for a bracelet next week?

Shifting the chip stacks

Moving up to the 200K/400K ante 40K blind level sabbsezero was left with just 2.7 million chips and tried to make a play UTG by shoving with pocket sevens [7s][7h]. Folded around to ShiFtYFiNGeR in the small blind who held over 14 million, made the call with a suited [Ac][8c]. The sevens would get out-flopped then pummeled by the turned nut flush on the [3c] [Ad] [9c] [Kc] [9s] board. Left with nary a chip, sabbsezero finished in fifth place ($36,006.00).

At the hourly break with four left ShiFtYFiNGeR held the lead with Don Pedro07 about 2.5 million behind, here's how they stacked up:

ShiFtYFiNGeR 15,258,303
Don Pedro07 12,770,944
MexiTexi 9,092,960
citrusjim 5,237,793

Are we playing Omaha tonight?

While the big hands normally regulated to the four-card variant. they continue to fall on this final table. Watch our former chip leader (MexiTexi) and current chip leader (ShiFtYFiNGeR) put their chips in preflop as someone hits quads yet again in this 19 million chip pot:

While MexiTexi profited from quads before, it was ShiFtYFiNGeR's turn while having the preflop advantage of pocket tens [Th][Td] to MexiTexi's pocket sevens [7d][7h] the lead was blown open with two tens hitting the flop as MexiTexi did manage to river a limp straight [Tc] [6c] [Ts] [9s] [8h] and finished the night in fourth place ($47,866.80).

Plucked from the money tree

Just four hands later was would have our heads-up battle. As the blinds stayed at 200K/400K ante 40K citrusjim tried to make a play for the blinds by shoving preflop from the small blind for 5.1 million holding [3s][Kh]. The chip leader ShiFtYFiNGeR however had plenty of tournament tokens to spare and a decent [As][8d] to make the call with creating a 10.5 million chip pot. Just like MexiTexi's elimination, ShiFtYFiNGeR made short work of citrusjim by flopping trips [Ac] [Qd] [Ah] ShiFtYFiNGeR ended citrusjim's night in third place ($69,894.00).

Don Pedro07 vs. ShiFtYFiNGeR

ShiFtYFiNGeR's near three to one chip lead (30.3 million to 11.9 million) over Don Pedro07 looked huge but there was room to wiggle as the blinds were at 200K/400K ante 40K to start heads-up play. Don Pedro07 would itch closer to evening things up by doubling up on the 15th hand of heads-up play by winning a 14 million chip coinflip [4d][Ac] vs. ShiFtYFiNGeR's pocket deuces [2h][2d] on a [4c] [3s] [4h] [3c] [Qd] board.

Four fours equal $132,910.50

After the double up, the chips would resemble a quick action ping-pong game going back and forth between the players as play moved on to 250K/500K ante 50K level. With Don Pedro07 holding 14.8 million he would call ShiFtYFiNGeR's min raise in the big blind as the two saw a [4d] [3h] [4s] (eerily similar to the hand that doubled-up Don Pedro07 earlier) flop. Don Pedro07 lined up his 13.8 million chips shoved them into the middle holding [3d][5d]. A like last time two fours showed up on the flop, someone held the third one, as ShiFtYFiNGeR quickly called and turned up [5s] [4c]. [4h] on the turn gave us our third showing of quads at the final table, and gave ShiFtYFiNGeR $132,910.50 as this week's Sunday Warm-up champion!

Be sure to check here at the PokerStarsBlog and PokerStars.tv next week for the up-to-date scoop on the WCOOP proceedings.

$750,000 Guarantee Sunday Warm-up Results (08-29-10)
1. ShiFtYFiNGeR (Melbourne) $132,910.50
2. Don Pedro07 (bucuresti) $98,698.80
3. citrusjim (london) $69,894.00
4. Mexitexi (Rotterdam) $47,866.80
5. sabbsezero (Las Vegas) $36,006.00
6. melous (palma mallorca) $27,534.00
7. badgergav (Essex) $19,062.00
8. Erasmus Hurt (Norwalk) $10,590.00
9. lausfloh (Neusiedl am See) $6,777.60

State Fairs are around the corner, Target is announcing Back-To-School specials in the Sunday newspaper ads, and the Premiership and NFL return to our television sets. But, something else comes with the fall colors and does not require a rake and 30 gallon garbage bags. The World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) is coming to an internet connection near you with Event #1 on September 5th a six-max tourney with a $1.25 million guarantee. http://www.pokerstars.com/wcoop/schedule/ With the WCOOP in just three weeks, players are packing into the Sunday Majors like tonight's $750,000 guarantee Sunday Warm-up hoping a big win like the $136,079.62 first prize tonight. 4,337 players bought in for $215, thus crushing the guarantee and created a $867,400.00 prize pool.

Team PokerStars pros Tae Joon Noh ($494.41 260th place), Joep "Pappe_Ruk" van den Bijgaart ($442.37 312th place), Steve Paul ($442.37 316th place), Alvaro "VARICO" Ballesteros ($355.63 418th place) were among the 630 players who cashed tonight. Bijgaart and Ballesteros enjoyed cashing in the Sunday Warm-up for the second consecutive week but were unable to move on to the final table.

No extra cheddar for GrimeRat420

GrimeRat420 was the chip leader with 25 players remaining but could not hold to those chips. With the final table bubble at hand and blinds at 100K/200K ante 20K, GrimeRat420 tried a shove for 3.6 million from the button holding [Ad][8s] but one of the blinds was not going away. justpartime6 called and covered GrimeRat420's bet while holding [Ac][Qc]. Both would flop two pair, but justpartime6's aces over queens [8c] [Qd] [Ah] [3s] [Tc] was the winner for the 7.6 million chip pot and set up the final table below:

Seat 1: hierki (2081976 in chips)
Seat 2: kittevajen (6252146 in chips)
Seat 3: Shamus888 (2360158 in chips)
Seat 4: Al K. Holick (4274727 in chips)
Seat 5: Ansgar2000 (3754177 in chips)
Seat 6: Ramux (6854104 in chips)
Seat 7: justpartime6 (10525990 in chips)
Seat 8: EndlessJ (2366743 in chips)
Seat 9: bigfr0g (4899979 in chips)

The blinds would jump quickly to 125K/250K ante 25K as fast play was needed with the blinds crunching down on our final nine as evidenced by two all-ins and calls in the first ten hands. No eliminations though as Al K. Holick and bigfr0g managed to double up.

Endless refills only allowed at McDonald's and rebuy tourneys

The blinds moved up to 150K/300K ante 30K in what was the longest we have seen for the first elimination at the Sunday Warm-up final table. Played folded to EndlessJ in the hijack holding [Qd][9d] and just 1.8 million in chips and those went into the middle trying to snag the blinds. bigfr0g in the cutoff however had other plans holding pocket aces [Ah][Ad] and made the call. The board spit out [Js] [6h] [7d] [2h] [8d] and EndlessJ's bottomless cup finally ran dry in ninth place ($6,939.20).

Yes sir I'll have another

Four hands later kittevajen tried limping in from early position as Shamus888 had other plans and shoved for 3.7 million. Not done with the action yet, Al K. Holick covered Shamus888 and also shoved. Folded back to kittevajen who also folded as Shamus888 turned up [Jh][Ks] and Al K. Holick found pocket rockets [Ac][Ad]. Shamus888 would give some sweat with an open ended straight draw on the river, but missed [2c] [8c] [Qd] [Td] [7s] to finish in eighth place ($10,842.50).

Time to punch out on the job

After coming into the final table as the chip leader justparttime6 was whittled down to just 1.6 million as the 150K/300K ante 30K blind level claimed another chair. After open shoving for his stack, justpartime6 watched kittevajen make the call in the big blind holding [Ac][7c]. Holding [7d][Td] justpartime6 was dominated but nailed a ten on the flop [Th] [Jh] [3c]. But, the broadway cards kept coming, [Qs] on the turn and a [Kc] on the river shipped a straight and 3.5 million chips to kittevajen as justpartime6's final table experience was cut short in seventh place ($19,516.50).

Last Call

Al K. Holick would lose a near 12 million chip preflop coin flip against Ansgar2000 as his [Qs][As] could not catch up to pocket nines. Then on the very next hand another 12 million chip hand between the two played out. Watch the results below:

No flip this time as Ansgar2000 claimed the rest of Al K. Holick's chips with pocket queens [Qs][Qc] besting [Ad][Jd] as all the chips went in preflop and moved into Ansgar2000's stack after a [5s] [2s] [2h] [Ks] [7h] board. For Al K. Holick $28,190.50 in sixth place should manage to cover his bar tab for awhile.

At the hourly five minute break here's how our final five shaped up with Ansgar2000 claiming a big lead and coming back to 200K/400K ante 40K blinds:

Ansgar2000 19,021,695
Ramux 14,681,780
bigfr0g 5,664,664
hierki 2,701,616
kittevajen 1,300,245

Nine lives all used up

After doubling up shortly after the break and blinds rising to 250K/500K ante 50K we had a three-way all-in with kittevajen and hierki both all-in preflop for their tournament life and Ramux covering both players. Watch the hand play out below:

hierki [6c][6h]
kittevajen [Ah][Jc]
Ramux [Ad][5d]

The board [2d] [2s] [Qc] [3d] [Ts] spilled out blanks for everyone as both pots slid 5.7 million chips to hierki as kittevajen's night came to a close in fifth place ($36,864.50).

Rammed out in fourth place

Seven hands later Ansgar2000 put Ramux to the test by shoving a massive stack from the small blind into Ramux's big blind. Holding [Ad][Ts] Ramux would make the call for the rest of his chips creating a 11.1 million chip pot. Ansgar2000 was not throwing around chips air however and turned over [Ks][Qs]. The flop [7c] [2s] [9d] was safe for Ramux to put a slight dent into Ansgar's stack but the [Kc] on the turn was all Ansgar2000 needed as the [Td] paired Ramux but was not enough to stay in the game. Ramux took leave with $49,008.10 in fourth place.

Short stack war

The blinds held at 250K/500K ante 50K as just four hand after Ramux took leave from the table, a rejuvenated hierki and bigfr0g would take their chips in preflop watch them battle it out preflop below:

bigfr0g's leap from the small blind found him in deep water as hierki called and turned up pocket jacks [Jh][Js]. bigfr0g was not out of it holding [Qs][Td] but could not find a queen on the all low [3c] [6d] [8d] [5h] [4s] board and was done in third place ($71,560.50).

hierki vs. Ansgar2000 for $136,079.62

hierki's short stack ninja work holding just under seven big blinds at the break rolled up to a date heads-up with Ansgar2000. Ansgar2000 still head a sizable 33.5 million to 9.8 million chip lead but hierki's was on a roll and looking to move on to a win.

Deuces never loses, right?

Nine hands into heads-up play with Ansgar2000 stretching the lead to 35.2 vs. 8.1 million, hierki tried to shove with pocket deuces [2c][2d] from the button and got a snap call from Ansgar2000 holding pocket queens [Qs][Qd]. The deuces failed to find a third on the [Ac] [8c] [3d] [Td] [Th] board and hierki took a short stack with five remaining to a six-figure payday as the runner-up ($101,052.10). Ansgar2000 rode the big stack after knocking out Al K. Holick all the way to this week's Sunday Warm-up victory and $136,079.62 for the win. This was not Ansgar2000 first brush with big money in this tournament, back in March he would take the second biggest piece of the chop and fourth place for $86K in March.

$750,000 Guarantee Sunday Warm-up Results (08-15-10)

1. Ansgar2000 (Bielefeld) $136,079.62
2. hierki (junglinster) $101,052.10
3. bigfr0g (Wallisellen) $71,560.50
4. Ramux (la concha de la lora) $49,008.10
5. kittevajen (Stockholm) $36,864.50
6. Al K. Holick (--) $28,190.50
7. justpartime6 (chicago) $19,516.50
8. Shamus888 (Bath) $10,842.50
9. EndlessJ (Raleigh) $6,939.20

Players on PokerStars continue to count the days until the 9th edition of the World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) gets underway September 5th. One way to help build up their roll is to take down this week's edition of the Sunday Warm-Up. Today's edition drew a field of 4,247 entrants, creating a prize pool of $849,400 that was distributed to the final 630 players.

Several PokerStars: Team PRO members were part of today's field, including Chris Moneymaker, Noah Boeken, and Jose Ignacio Barbero , However, only four would make the money: Portugal's Henrique Pinho earned the bragging rights for the best finish, 98th for $1,061.75. The other Team PokerStars players who made the money: Team Online member Alvaro "VARICO" Ballesteros - 334th for $416.20, The Netherlands' Joep Van Den Bijgaart - 345th for $399.21, Spain's Juan Maceiras - 516th for $322.77.

Jamesms11 jettisoned at final table bubble

With 10 players left, Jamesms11 was the short stack with less than 1m in chips with the blinds at 80,000/160,000 with the ante at 16,000. Jamesms11 shoved from under the gun with [qc][tc], it was folded around to Raidan909 in the big blind, calling with [Ah][Td]. The flop came down [6c][as][kc], giving Jamesms11 straight and flush draws, but the [3d] turn and [Qd] river were of no use, sending Jamesms11 to the rail finishing in 10th for $5,096.40 as the final table was now established with these nine players:

Seat 1: OlyDaJew (9240091 in chips)
Seat 2: lpoker64 (3285766 in chips)
Seat 3: Shark 00100 (4779290 in chips)
Seat 4: Ocall (3154105 in chips)
Seat 5: holyguacmole (2713457 in chips)
Seat 6: peter804 (3818546 in chips)
Seat 7: Raidan909 (11816959 in chips)
Seat 8: Bushman (1282440 in chips)
Seat 9: mextrex (2379346 in chips)

Mextrex runs out of checks

The players at the final table were feeling each other out as there was little action during the first 20 hands. The blinds were now at 100,000/200,000 with a 20,000 ante when the elimination happened. Action had been folded around to mextrex in the small blind, moving in for their last 1,223,346 with [kc][8c], only to have OlyDaJew make the call with [ad][7h]. The flop brought no help to metrex, [4h] [6h] [Ts], and their tournament was over when the turn was the [ah]. The [th] on the river completed the hand, as OlyDaJew eliminated a player, something that would happen often at this final table, as mextrex earned $6,795.20 for 9th place.

OlyDaJew speeds up the tournament

After several hands where few flops were seen, Shark 00100 and Ipoker64, two similar stacks, got tangled up in a hand. When the flop came down [9h][6c][Th], Ipoker64 led out for 725,555, while Shark 00100 moved in for 3,111,290 with [Jh][Jd], as Ipoker64 called with [js][ts]. The [qd] on the turn gave hope for Ipoker64, but the [4d] on the river meant Ipoker64 with just 4,036 in chips, barely 1/5 of an ante. Miraculously, Ipoker64 would win the next three hands to get up to climb up to over 678,000 in chips. The blinds had jumped to 125,000/250,000 with a 25,000 ante when Ipoker64 and Ocall saw their final hand of the tournament. Action had folded to OlyDaJew, who raised to 505,555, Ipoker64 moved in for 603,728 while Ocall also went all in for 1,766,398. When the cards were revealed:

Ocall: [ah][kc]
Ipoker64: [kh][4s]
OlyDaJew: [8h][6h]

Ocall looked poised to more than double their stack, but the flop of [6s][jc][6c] had Ipoker64 was drawing slim to a chop, while Ocall needed runner-runner clubs. The turn was the [4d], as Ocall was drawing dead, and the [3c] eliminated Ipoker64 in 8th place for $10,617.50, and Ocall earned 7th place money, good for $19,111.50

Peter804 has chips no more

Six-handed play didn't last long, as the short-stacked Peter804 moved in for 2,687,545 with [Ac][Js], while Raidan909 calling from the small blind with [kc][qs]. The flop was good for Peter804: [6d][5h][9h], but the [kd] on the turn moved Raidan909 into the lead. The [7d] on the river didn't change matters, as Peter804 finished his tournament with $27,605.50 for a 6th place finish while Raidan909 moved into the chip lead. However, that was short-lived, along with their tournament survival.

Raidan909 goes from hero to zero

Raidan909 ran out of their rungood in a hurry, first losing the chip lead to OlyDaJew, then holyguacmole [ac][qd] doubled through Raidan909 [ad][5c] in a nearly 6m chip pot. Raidan909 then doubled up Bushman in a blind v blind battle, shoving with [td][9h] while Bushman instacalled and threw in the triple fist pump for good measure, turning over [as][ac]. The board didn't improve as Bushman won a 9,323,520 chip pot. The blinds had now jumped to 150,000/300,000 with a 30,000 ante when Raidan909 moved in for 5,075,537 chips with [4s][4h] while OlyDaJew called with [9h][9c]. There wasn't a two-outter or any further help coming as the board ran out [6h] [Ah] [Kh] [Jc] [8d], leaving Raidan909 to wonder what happened, finishing 5th for $36,099.50 as OlyDaJew moved into a dominating chip lead.

holyguacmole! I got counterfeited on the river!

OlyDaJew kept up the pressure at the final table, as the other three players were looking for a hand to double up. Holyguacmole saw [5h][5c] and min-raised to 600,000. OlyDaJew then made it 1,515,555 from the big blind, then holyguacmole shoved for their remaining 6,052,713, as OlyDaJew called with [As][jd] to create an over 15,000,000 chip pot. The flop was [Kc][Td][Ts], giving OlyDaJew a straight draw to go along with their two overcards. The [6d] gave OlyDaJew three more outs to counterfeit holyguacmole's hand. The [Kd] on the river was certainly not the card holyguacmole was hoping for, as their two pair was counterfeited as OlyDaJew's two pair with ace-high now the best hand. The $47,991.10 4th place money for holyguacmole of little comfort at the moment.

Shark 00100 bitten

OlyDaJew held over 33,000,000 chips three-handed, almost 80% of the chips, looking to end the tournament quickly. From the small blind, a raise of 6,000,000 was enough to put Shark 00100 all-in, calling with [6c][6h] against OlyDaJew's [kc][7s]. The good fortune for OlyDaJew continue when the flop was [7d][Jd][2d]. The [kh] still meant Shark 00100 had two outs, as the [5h] on the river meant Shark 00100 earned 3rd place money, with $70,075.50 added to their account.

Bushman's mission not accomplished

Here's how the chips looked when it got to heads-up:

OlyDaJew - 36,323,146
Bushman - 6,146,854

It looked to be a foregone conclusion for OlyDaJew to be victorious, but Bushman, who started the final table 9th in chips, tried hard to make a comeback. Bushman was able to double up once in heads-up play to over 11,000,000 in chips, but was back down to under 7,000,000 in chips when the final hand was dealt. The blinds were now at 200,000/400,000 with a 40,000 ante, when OlyDaJew bet enough to put Bushman all-in, holding [5c][5d]. Bushman called with [ah][kd] and was hoping for a fortunate flop to double up for a second time. However, the flop left Bushman drawing to a chop as OlyDaJew flopped a set: [5s][7d][6h]. The door was closed when the [7c] on the turn gave OlyDaJew the checkmark, as the [kh] on the river did Bushman no good as the tournament came to an end. Bushman's 2nd place finish was good for $98,955.10, leaving OlyDaJew with a six-figure payday for 1st, good for $133,255.78.

$750,000 Guarantee Sunday Warm-up Results (08-08-10)
1st: OlyDaJew (naperville) $133,255.78
2nd: Bushman (Mission) $98,955.10
3rd: Shark 00100 (janabia) $70,075.50
4th: holyguacmole (Amsterdam) $47,991.10
5th: Raidan909 (Murrieta) $36,099.50
6th: peter804 (Southsea) $27,605.50
7th: Ocall (Barcelona) $19,111.50
8th: Ipoker64 (SARATOV) $10,617.50
9th: mextrex (Vilnius) $6,795.20

The fields for the Sunday Majors here at PokerStars continue to climb back to normal as one World Championship is firmly in the rear view mirror until November, and the other World Championship, as in the World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) starts up in September. 4,265 players paid their $215 tonight cracking the $750,000 guarantee Sunday Warm-up and creating a prize pool of $853,000.00 paid out to 630 places. Let's go to the felt!

87 is 86'd

Bubble time and the difference between a potential six figure payday and a $5K consolation prize awaits. LVSEO would lead out UTG for 328,000 as the blinds just moved up to 80K/160K ante 16K, folded around to ATHIED87 on the low end of the chip count in the big blind holding [Ks][9c] he would shove for 1.7 million. Costing of the stack LVSEO would calm cut the chips out and made the call with big slick [Kc][Ah]. No nine for ATHIED87 came down the [4c] [Qs] [2c] [Qh] [7c] board and our final table was set as ATHIED87 took down $5,118.00 in tenth place.

Seat 1: BigFlopper01 (9933184 in chips)
Seat 2: BFGI800 (2620584 in chips)
Seat 3: Ivan MC 2007 (4832073 in chips)
Seat 4: AB1001 (3262380 in chips)
Seat 5: Patonius2000 (6691895 in chips)
Seat 6: LVSEO (5350831 in chips)
Seat 7: strflushtome (3079193 in chips)
Seat 8: drew5927 (4621150 in chips)
Seat 9: Sick´nSocial (2258710 in chips)

Not very social

Sick' nSocial was sitting with the least amount of chips at tonight's Sunday Warm-up final table with just over ten big blinds as the first hand was folded to him in the cutoff holding a small suited ace [2d][Ad]. Sick' nSocial would shove those 2.2 million chips in as BigFlopper01 on the button held a big hand, pocket jacks [Jd][Js], and quickly made the call. No wheel and no diamonds found their way onto the [Ks] [Ts] [6h] [8s] [3h] board and Sick' nSocial left the table gracefully in ninth place ($6,824.00).

We're going with grabbing a four-pack of Red Bull

Team PokerStars Pro Barry Greenstein dropped by for hosting duties tonight and quipped during the hourly five minute break "I'm going to take a five minute break let me know what happens". Hour nine had eight players still vying for the six figure payday and BigFlopper01 holding a sizable lead as the table's only player over ten million in chips as Patonius2000 at eight million and drew5927 were the closest competitors.

No straight, no flush, no chips

Back from the break at blinds up to 100K/200K ante 20K, Patonius2000 led out from the cutoff for 442,568 as strflushtome would shove from the small blind holding [Ah][Td] for 1.9 million chips. drew5927 folded the big blind as Patonius2000 had a suited big slick [Ad][Kd] and eased by the five cards across the middle [3h] [2c] [9d] [7s] [Qs] and collected the 4.2 million chip pot without incident. strflushtome was unable to catch a ten and took home $10,662.50 in eighth place.

Big Bully

Crippled in a five million chip preflop coin flip against LVSEO, Ivan MC 2007 was down to just 806,534 chips in the small blind and facing a raise from BigFlopper01 that would but put him all-in. Holding [6c][Ac] Ivan MC 2007 would shove those chips into the middle as BigFlopper01 made the math call holding [7h][Js]. Watch the "I knew it would hit the river" video below:

The eight indeed would hit the [5d] [Th] [9d] [3h] [8c] river giving BigFlopper01 the straight, the two million chip pot, and forcing Ivan MC 2007 to take the party elsewhere in seventh place ($19,192.50).

Nancy Drew Mystery Solved: BigFlopper01 did it

The rich got richer as drew5927 with just 1.6 million chips, open shoved holding a modest [4s][Ks] but BigFlopper to the direct left held a not-so-modest [As][Jh] made the quick call. A trail of cards [Qs] [6c] [Td] [6d] [5c] led the chips to their rightful owner as BigFlopper acquired another pelt and drew5927 became the next victim of the seemingly unstoppable chip leader and left with hammerific score ($27,722.50) in sixth place. July has been good for drew5927 as just two weeks ago he notched together a final table at the Sunday Million finishing 5th for a $63,000.00 score.

We're still playing for $133,818.64 right?

Just three hands later with the blinds moving up to 125K/250K ante 25K LVSEO and AB1001 would mix it up preflop. LVSEO spammed the five key for a 555,555 chip raise as it folded to AB1001 in the big blind who would shove for 1.8 million chips holding pocket nines [9h][9s]. LVSEO started the hand with over 11 million chips and had plenty to make the call holding pocket tens [Th][Td]. Lots of broadway cards found the [Ac] [4h] [Jh] [Kd] [As] board as LVSEO's tens held and AB1001 was done in fifth place ($36,252.50).

Court Full of Kings

As the blinds just moved up to 150K/300K ante 30K LVSEO would raise to 666,666 as BigFlopper01 bumped it to 1,555,555. Patonius2000, who was unable to gain traction tonight, was down to 5.9 million and shoved those chips in. LVSEO was undeterred and re-shoved for 15 million as BigFlopper01 left the tax for the re-steal on the felt and folded. Watch the video below for the results:

Not needed LVSEO would hit the other two kings in the deck [2d] [2h] [Kh] [Ks] [7d] for quad kings [Kd][Kc] as pocket nines [9c][9d] were not lucky for the holder once again and Patonius2000's night ended in fourth place ($48,194.50). This was Patonius2000 second big score of 2010, after taking runner-up honors at the 2010 SCOOP $2,100 PLO Event #11 and earned $75,000.00

Squeezed out

Sitting in-between two huge stacks, BFGI800 had nowhere to run and a shortened stack of just 1.6 million chips after paying the big blind and was facing a raise from BigFlopper01 for the remainder of his stack. Heads-up [Ah][3s] looked really good at that moment so BFGI800 would make the call and saw that [9d][Ad] twinkling above BigFlopper01's name. Neither player would match their kicker on the [Th] [Js] [5d] [2s] [8s] board and heads-up play was about to begin after BFGI800 received $70,372.50 in third place.

Shotgun marriage of money

Do you? I do.

Do you? I do.

And so it was done, no fuss as LVSEO gave up a little and the chop nuptials were signed. With LVSEO in a slight lead 25 million to BigFlopper01's 17 million, they both took six figure paydays shown below:

LVSEO $113,192
BigFlopper01 $110,000

The wheels come off quickly

On the seventh hand of heads-up play LVSEO opened up the lead to 27 million over BigFlopper01's 15 million as both would flip preflop for a 30.3 million chip pot. BigFlopper01's pocket fours [4h][4s] would survive on the [Qs] [9s] [5c] [3s] [Th] board over LVSEO's [Ad][6h] as LVSEO was knocked down to 12.3 million chips. Five hands later we would name this week's Sunday Warm-up champion and award the extra $10,000. With a flop of [2c][3c][2h] both players would get their chips in the middle, watch it play out below:

LVSEO laid the trap perfectly with pocket rockets [Ah][Ad] as BigFlopper01's top pair [3d][7d] could only hope for one of two treys in the deck.

Turn card: [3h]

Did not wait for a dramatic river as the three gave BigFlopper01 the lead and the resuck would not hit [9c] giving BigFlopper01 the final 24.6 million chips and the extra $10,000.00 as this week's Sunday Warm-up champion! BigFlopper01 laminated about being the chip leader of the Sunday Million two weeks ago on the same final table with 6th place drew5927 and finishing in 9th for $11,625.00, BigFlopper01 will not have to worry about that missed shot any longer after taking down $120,000 tonight.

Be sure to check out PokerStars.TV for the Sunday Wrap show later on this week for commentary and hole cards revealed from tonight's big hands.

$750,000 Guarantee Sunday Warm-up Results (07-25-10)
(* denotes part of two-way deal)
1. BigFlopper01 (Vancouver) *$120,000.00
2. LVSEO (Henderson) *$113,193.14
3. BFGI800 (Karlovi -Vari) $70,372.50
4. Patonius2000 (Las Vegas) $48,194.50
5. AB1001 (Breda) $36,252.50
6. drew5927 (stumptown) $27,722.50
7. Ivan MC 2007 (Monaco) $19,192.50
8. strflushtome (ENSCHEDE) $10,662.50
9. Sick´nSocial (Leipzig) $6,824.00

Tired? Sleepy? Need a nap? Perhaps a shot of five-hour energy, six pack of Red Bull, or if the World Series of Poker PokerStarsBlog crew is to be believed, a handful of Atomic Fireballs would help you make it through the $750,000 guarantee Sunday Warm-up in one piece. The post-WSOP time started after a marathon to go from ten to nine in the Main Event with Brandon Steven busting out after his big slick failed to catch against Matt Jarvis' pocket queens, and the final nine will reconvene in November to play for $8.9 million. Today also marked our sleepy online players returning to the virtual felt in droves as last week's 2,990 player field was trampled by the 3,997 players that showed up tonight breaking the guarantee and muscling up the prize pool to $799,400.00 with $125,507.15 going to our winner.

Team PokerStars Pro Victor Ramdin showed no signs of fatigue from the World Series of Poker as he ran extremely deep tonight. With ten tables remaining though Victor tried taking control of a blind versus blind situation after Bostero10 made a raise from the small blind to 40,050 with blinds at 7,500/10,000 ante 1,500. Ramdin would shove from the big blind for a not-so-small 305,605 with [6c][As] but Bostero10 had the pro covered and made the call with a dominating [Ad][9d]. By the turn [2s] [7d] [2c] [8d] Victor would lose another potential out and the [9h] on the river meant his lost all his chips in 85th place ($1,119.16).

Bounce back

Down to the bubble where the hand immediately after MrNebula was all-in and dominated A8 vs. the A9 of mement_mori but managed to flop an eight and have it hold for the 6.2 million chip pot, we would bust our 10th place finisher. mement_mori possibly steaming from the previous hand would open shove from the button for 5.5 million with the blinds at 100K/200K ante 20K holding [Jd][Kh]. Directly to his left, korjae would make the call for less holding [Qd][Ad]. A king on the [6c] [4h] [Ks] flop had korjae scrambling for an ace. No help on the [4s] turn and the [Qh] on the river wasn't enough as mement_mori took down the four million chip pot as korjae earned $4,796.40 in tenth place.

Seat 1: Mazzze (6699187 in chips)
Seat 2: tollgate (3246504 in chips)
Seat 3: marcuscha (2405400 in chips)
Seat 4: SPAZdos304 (4116596 in chips)
Seat 5: jackmeplz69 (3113393 in chips)
Seat 6: Bulat09 (2258483 in chips)
Seat 7: mement_mori (7743977 in chips)
Seat 8: MrNebula (6237012 in chips)
Seat 9: danger0us (4149448 in chips)

High blinds and low chips is no way to go through life (or a tournament)

Five hands into the final table Mazzze would lead off the betting by raising to 600,000 as it folded to shortstacked Bulat09 in the small blind. Holding 1.9 million in chips Bulat09 would shove holding pocket fives [5c][5d] as Mazzze quickly made the call with pocket jacks [Jc][Jd]. Neither player improved on the [Qs] [3d] [9c] [7h] [Qh] board and Bulat09's short stint at the Sunday Warm-up final table was over in ninth place ($6,395.20).

aMazzzing

Not discounting the nickname but if someone named "danger0us" is cutting out a raise I'd think twice about calling. danger0us was on the lighter side of the chip count holding 2.6 million with blinds bumped up to 125K/250K ante 25K and shoved in early position holding [As][Ts]. But, Mazzze was to the immediate left holding [Ad][Jc] and an eight-figure chip stack to make the call. No excitement came down the [8d] [Qh] [3h] [2d] [Jh] board and Mazzze scooped up the 5.7 million chip pot while danger0us was off to terrorize other tables finishing in eighth place ($9,992.50). This was not danger0us' first Sunday major final table, back in August 2009, danger0us frightened off 8,001 players taking 6th place in the Sunday Million for $48K.

Seven left for $125K

As the blinds moved up to 200K/400K ante 40K here's how our final seven stood shortly after a double up by tollgate who managed to trim a few chips off the chip leader Mazzze:

Seat 1: Mazzze (8,721,787 in chips)
Seat 2: tollgate (5,793,008 in chips)
Seat 3: marcuscha (5,785,800 in chips)
Seat 4: SPAZdos304 (2,743,192 in chips)
Seat 5: jackmeplz69 (4,907,772 in chips)
Seat 7: mement_mori (6,825,995 in chips)
Seat 8: MrNebula (5,192,446 in chips)

Flipped Out

After losing a 10 million chip preflop flip to jackmeplz69 with big slick unable to catch pocket queens, mement_mori tried his luck against tollgate the very next hand. Watch the pocket eights [8c][8d] race against the [Qs][Ks] on tollgate below:

The win would wait for a nasty river as the king hits [2c] [Jd] [Ah] [5s] [Kd] and tollgate offered this send-off for mement_mori in seventh place ($17,986.50). The high-stakes tournament pro wasn't able to quite catch the $72K won after taking 5th place in Event #23-high at the 2010 SCOOP tournament series.

tollgate offered this in chat after busting the unfortunate mement_mori: "now lets hear about mement_mori a dane who made this tale gory. his stack went and up and down, he made his opponents frown but tollgate will be finishing this story".

Potential deal six handed? Not if the bard has his way

tollgate again with the quotes: "more flops we will peel because tollgate says no deal".

tollgate is quickly becoming more quotable than former NBA star Charles Barkley.

Black hole of chips

Shortly before the hourly break, MrNebula made a move from UTG by shoving for 3.9 million and was re-raised by Mazzze on his left for 6.3 million shutting out the rest of the table. MrNebula's star was dimmed by the fact that Mazzze's big slick [Kc][As] far out-shone MrNebula's [9h][Ac]. Wheel cards would hit the board [2c] [3d] [2d] [Jh] [4h] but no nines as MrNebula took in $25,980.50 for sixth place.

Deal but no deal

Team PokerStars Pro Nuno Coelho was on held to dish up the numbers to our five-handed table:

jackmeplz69 $93,678.88
Mazzze $89,917.49
marcuscha: $57,029.91
tollgate $57,029.91
SPAZdos $50,856.70

No quip from tollgate this time as the players could not accept nor alter the numbers to their liking and the cards were back in the air.

Don't be a SPAZ

On the extreme shortstack, SPAZdos tried to take down the blinds with an open shove from the small blind holding [7d][Kd] and 2.3 million in chips. jackmeplz69 had more than enough to gamble with and did so making the call with a suited [Js][6s]. jackmeplz69 was true to the name as a jack hit the flop and held for the win on the [2d] [Jh] [Th] [5s] [5d] board for the 4.9 million chip pot. SPAZdos had a quick unkind "die" for jackmeplz69 in the chat after taking fifth place money this evening ($33,974.50).

jackmeplz69: $106,748.99
Mazzze: $88,574.89
tollgate: $63,182.42
marcuscha: $62,446.65

Again marcuscha and tollgate wanted $70K and again we had an impasse. "Play" said the two big stacks, and play they did.

No encore

With the blinds set at 200K/400K ante 40K and four-handed, a sense of urgency started to trickle in to all the players. Mazzze would open from the cutoff with a min-raise as the poet tollgate would shove for 4.2 million. Back to Mazzze who thought for a bit before making the call holding [Qd][Tc]. The cards were live against the big slick [As][Kc] of tollgate, and even more live after a ten hit the [Td] [5h] [6h] flop. The ten had enough staying power to fade the [9d] turn and [8h] river for the 9.1 million chip pot and sadly our chat box star was no more, out in fourth place ($45,965.50).

Third time is anything but a charm

More numbers...

jackmeplz69: $99,456.35
Mazzze: $96,872.15
marcuscha: $78,658.95

And the same result. Back to the felt!

Diamonds Forever

Yuck. Ick. PU. Much like trying lima beans for the first and only time, this hand will leave a foul taste in marchuscha's mouth for awhile (unless you like lima beans of course). Watch the video below for the first hand after the third aborted deal:

A string of diamonds made their way across the [8d] [Kd] [5d] [7d] [3d] and jackmeplz69's pocket fours [4d][4s] matched up just enough from a potential counterfeiting rivered diamond to defeat the pocket black jacks [Js][Jc] of marcuscha. 13.4 million chips to jackmeplz69 and $65,950.50 for third place to marcuscha.

Dealing dealing one more time

Starting out heads-up play with a 24.1 million to 15.7 million lead, jackmeplz69 tried to cut a deal right away asking for $113K, but Mazzze would have nothing of it and play continued. Mazzze would briefly hold the lead after doubling through jackmeplz69 when the two threw the chips in the middle for a 27.7 million gamble. [Ks][5h] for Mazzze, [Th][Ac] for jackmeplz and Mazzze would pull of the win with a king on the flop [Kd] [7d] [8h] [2c] [8d].

Navigating the Mazzze to victory

jackmeplz69 would take the lead back just as quickly doubling thru ten hands later and taking a 15 million chip pot two hands after that to reclaim the lead 25.9 million to 14 million. Mazzze however would grind a bit and pull within 17.6 million to jackplz69's 22.3 when this 35.2 million chip pot happened:

Pocket queens [Qd][Qc] for Mazzze stayed ahead of the pocket sixes [6s][6c] for jackmeplz69 on the [7s] [5s] [Kh] [Ah] [Kc] to leave jackmeplz69 with just 4.7 million in chips and blinds at 250K/500K ante 50K. Those chips would find their way to the middle immediately as both players showed strong hands again on the very next hand. Pocket eights for Mazzze [8h][8d] and suited Mrs. Slick [Qs][As] for jackmeplz69. No spades, no queens, no aces [9h] [Tc] [6s] [3d] [7h] meant no chips as jackmeplz69 would finish second ($93,529.80) and Mazzze by not taking any deals took home the whole first place pie getting a six-figure score ($125,507.15) as this week's Sunday Warm-up champion!

$750,000 Guarantee Sunday Warm-Up Results (07-18-10):

1. Mazzze (orebro) $125,507.15
2. jackmeplz69 (brookville) $93,529.80
3. marcuscha (Bremen) $65,950.50
4. tollgate (diggingafoxhole) $45,965.50
5. SPAZdos304 (Evergreen Park) $33,974.50
6. MrNebula (Graz) $25,980.50
7. mement_mori (Copenhagen) $17,986.50
8. danger0us (Houston) $9,992.50
9. Bulat09 (Novokuznetsk) $6,395.20

The celebrations from the beginning of the World Series of Poker's Main Event last week seemed to have left a bit of a hangover on the Sunday Majors. PokerStars $750,000 guarantee Sunday Warm-up had to use a bit of that guaranteed money tonight as 2,990 players lined up their $215 buy-ins causing an overlay on this evening's tournament. It would take a little less than nine hours to chop up the last four spots in the money pool, but another 45 minutes to determine a winner. Let's see how we got there.

No choppy here

Down to five aside on two tables and the prized final table awaiting all but one, short-stacked ch0ppy tried to take the blinds down from the button by open shoving for 954,560 chips with blinds at 40K/80K ante 8K holding [Kd][Qc]. But, Fled was standing his ground with [Ah][9d] in the small blind and made the call. Despite notching a king on river [3h] [2h] [8h] [Ts] [Kh] ch0ppy would lose to Fled's nut flush and was tonight's bubble boy in tenth place ($4,687.50). Don't feel bad for ch0ppy as there's an Audi TT sitting his garage from taking down the $1 Million Turbo Takedown last year in July.

Seat 1: OMGSHIPIT (2068737 in chips)
Seat 2: Mighty_L (1550824 in chips)
Seat 3: Mr_Lanne (1080336 in chips)
Seat 4: xAndorx (2228821 in chips)
Seat 5: Dang_Girl85 (3512018 in chips)
Seat 6: Fled (3624660 in chips)
Seat 7: SirSwish6 (4000767 in chips)
Seat 8: DONNAN123 (7910827 in chips)
Seat 9: Akustikus (3923010 in chips)

Just five hands into the final table, short stacked Mr_Lanne would use big slick to pass SirSwish6's [As][Tc] and take down a much needed double up as the blinds moved quickly to 50K/100K ante 10K.

The mighty have fallen

With just a little more than ten big blinds Mighty_L let out a roar from early position with a shove for 1.1 million chip holding pocket eights [8h][8d]. Around to the cutoff where Dang_Girl85 was awaiting with [Qh][As], with a slightly larger stack Dang_Girl85 would make the call. Top two on the flop [9c] [Ad] [Qd] [Kh] [9h] was enough as Dang_Girl85 silenced Mighty_L in ninth place ($6,000.00).

Is it cold in here or is it just me?

Five hands later the blinds bumped up to 65K/130K ante 13K and Akustikus led off the betting with a raise to 390,000. Two doors to the left, Mr_Lanne was ready to mix it up again holding pocket queens [Qd][Qs] and shoved for a shade less than two million chips. Folded back around quickly to Akustikus who covered and held a cooler in the form of pocket kings [Kh][Ks], made the call. The two-outer would hit the flop [9h] [Ac] [Qh] for Mr_Lanne with a flopped set of queens. [3h] and the 4.2 million chip pot looked good for Mr_Lanne but cruel justice came on the rivered [Kc] giving Akustikus a set of kings and driving Mr_Lanne off the final table road in eighth place ($9,750.00).

One is not enough

We would take seven into the beginning of the 80K/160K ante 16K level but lose two players nearly back-to-back. First, watch below as xAndorx tries a little bluff after the flop against Akustikus.

After a preflop raise and call, Akustikus would lead out for 480,000 after the [Qd][6s][6d] flop. Sensing weakness xAndorx bounced and shoved for 1.6 million holding [Td][As]. Having a sizable amount of chips already, Akustikus would make the call quickly after out-flopping xAndorx with [Qc][Tc] good for top pair. Another queen on the river [9h][Qh] and xAndorx took leave in seventh place ($17,250.00).

OMGSHIPTHEPOT2Fled

Just two hands later OMGSHIPIT would shove a small stack of 1.4 million from the button holding [Jd][Th]. Fled sitting in the big blind would take a few tickets to think about it but made the right call holding [5c][Ac]. Fled would be rewarded by taking down the hand immediately after flopping the nut flush [3c][9c][2c]. The rest of the cards were moot as the 2.9 million chips headed into Fled stack, and OMGSHIPIT received $24,750.00 in sixth place. OMGSHIPIT received just a little less than he did two years ago at the Sunday Warm-up taking fifth place in that one for $30K.

Is everyone late for supper?

Just four hands after bidding OMGSHIPIT a good night SirSwish6's short-stack of 1.2 million would also find its way into the middle preflop holding [Kh][8d] and hoping no one would wake up with a hand. DONNAN123 let the card lie, but Akustikus found a couple of jacks [Jh][Jc] and quickly made the call. A eight would flop [8c] [Td] [4c] but the five outs would not materialize on the [2d] turn nor [Tc] river and SirSwish6 was flushed out of the final table in fifth place ($32,250.00). This was Sirswish6's second run at the Sunday Warm-up final table, taking home 6th place last December for $29K.

Debating War and Peace would have been shorter

Our final four would play three quick hands and began to sit down for a very lengthy conversation of poker acumen and a love for rounded numbers. Back and forth the chop talks went until finally Akustikus and DONNAN123 shaved enough off their dollar amounts to come to the agreed to four-way chop below:

$80,000.00 Akustikus
$79,890.00 DONNAN123
$71,000 Fled
$70,000 Dang_Girl85

Flips for fours

We'll slip a little alliteration in there for the fireworks between Fled and Dang_Girl85 shortly after the tournament clock was unfrozen. Watch the ten million chip preflop flip between the two in the video below:

The pocket fours [4d][4s] for Fled flopped... oh I'll stop it now, managed to weave by all of the outs for Dang_Girl85's suited big slick on the [Jd] [7h] [3s] [8s] [Qh] board knocking Dang_Girl85's stack down to under a big blind. Depsite a couple of double ups, Dang_Girl85 would bust out to Akustikus' [Kc][Jc] outflopped her [Ac][Qh] and Dang_Girl85 received $70,000.00 from the chop in fourth place.

One pip and we are down to two

Blinds moving up to 100K/200K ante 20K and DONNAN123 was slipping a bit to 5.5 million chips after holding a virtual lead with Akustikus during the chip chop talks. After Fled started the betting with a button raise to 445,666 chips, DONNAN123 would three-bet to 1.4 million. Akustikus got out of the way but Fled answered with a shove for 9.7 million. Holding [Qs][Ac] DONNAN123 had a big decision with the rising blinds and decided to make the call. Fled was more than happy to turn over the dominating big slick [Ad][Ks] and more happy when the 11.4 million chips hit his stack after the [2h] [8d] [3c] [Ts] [Js] failed to produce a suckout. $79,890.00 for a little more than nine hours of work as DONNAN123 exited in third place.

Neck and neck

Fled holding 15.5 million to Akustikus' 14.3 million and blinds at 100K/200K ante 20K would give both players time to dance a bit before awarding the $10,000.00 left from the chop to tonight's champion. Akustikus would strike the first blow by value betting pocket tens on each street of the [4s] [Ks] [9h] [Kd] [5h] board and claimed a 11.6 million chip pot when Fled mucked.

Two aces arrive, one is left standing

Down 6.8 million to 22.9 million and blinds at 125K/250K ante 25K Fled would make a move preflop with [Ac][8h] by four-bet shoving from the button. Akustikus clearly covered and would make the call turning over the dominate [Ah][9d]. An all-low board [6h] [3s] [2s] [3h] [5s] prevented a chop and pushed the final 13.8 million chip pot to this week's Sunday Warm-up champion Akustikus who added the $10K to take his winning total to $90,000.00!

$750,000 Guarantee Sunday Warm-up Results (07-11-10)
(* denotes part of four-way chop)
1. Akustikus (Luzern) *$90,000.00
2. Fled (la) *$71,000.00
3. DONNAN123 (WHITEHAVEN) *$79,890.00
4. Dang_Girl85 (Plano) *$70,000.00
5. SirSwish6 (Chicago) $32,250.00
6. OMGSHIPIT (Orlando) $24,750.00
7. xAndorx (Makeyevka) $17,250.00
8. Mr_Lanne (Stavanger) $9,750.00
9. Mighty_L (Brøndby Strand) $6,000.00

The 4th of July holiday in the United States meant a smaller field than what is usually expected for the Sunday Warm-Up this afternoon. The field of 3,189 players meant an overlay of over $110,000 for the 495 players who made the money, with the winner taking down a hefty $117,750. Several members of Team PokerStars were part of the field, with Team PokerStars Online member Alvaro "VARICO" Ballesteros making a deep run in finishing 51st for $1,425. The only other Team PokerStars member to make the money was Anders "Donald" Hoyer Berg, 409th for $367.50.

Ace on the River, by marado86

With the field hand-for-hand at the final table bubble, it appeared marado86 would finish 10th, when he moved in with [Ac] [5s] from the small blind for 1.3m after joemac17's 230k raise with [4d][4s]. The flop looked good for joemac17: [3d][8c][8d], the [6c] on the turn gave marado86 more outs, but the [Ac] worked just fine to give him the double-up he needed. The final table bubble would burst at the other table, as buldermar's min-raise was followed by a shove by s0nny_bLacCk for just under 1.5m in chips. When buldermar snap-called with [Td][Ts}, s0nny_bLacCk's [Js][9s] weren't looking good, especially when the board ran out [7c][Qs][5h][9d][Ac], for the 10th place finish and more importantly for s0nny_bLacCk, $4,500 as the field was combined at lucky (for the winner) table 13 with the blinds at 50k/100k with a 10k ante.

Seat 1: kashmirpoker (2047286 in chips)
Seat 2: buldermar (4320046 in chips)
Seat 3: marado86 (2628530 in chips)
Seat 4: kloris83 (6755244 in chips)
Seat 5: ImDaNuts (3855557 in chips)
Seat 6: Wing-Tsun (2180924 in chips)
Seat 7: taxidromos (2872722 in chips)
Seat 8: joemac17 (2465683 in chips)
Seat 9: Bear4rms (4764008 in chips)

joemac17 flushed away

On the fifth hand of the final table, joemac17 was hoping to get some of the chips he had lost from marado86 during final table bubble play. Another raise to 230k from joemac17, and marado86 shoved (again) from the small blind for about 2.7m in chips. A quick call followed by joemac17 with [Ac][Kd], while marado86 was dominated with [As][9s]. The [5s][Qd][Ks] helped both players, but the [Ts] left joemac17 drawing dead. The [Qs] on the river just a footnote for the hand history as joemac7 will be wondering what he did to deserve finishing in 9th for $6,000.

ImDaNuts clips Wing-Tsun

The blinds had moved up to the 65k/130k/13k level when the next elimination took place after another two orbits of the final table. Wing-Tsun was the short stack with under 2m in chips, and shoved from under the gun with [Ac][Qh]. Action folded around the table until ImDaNuts double-fist pump-snapcalled with [Ks][Kd] from the big blind. The [6s][Ts][4s] flop left Wing-Tsun was drawing very slim. The [4c][9d] turn and river meant an 8th place finish, good for $9,375.

Buldermar binked, broken down

The blinds had now moved up to the 80/160/16k level with buldermar third in chips, and
primed to make a move. After a raise to 344k from kashmirpoker, buldermar smooth called, followed by a three-bet from marado86 to just under 1m. kashmirpoker gets out of the way, as buldermar moves in for the rest of his stack, over 3.75m. Marado86 calls for 2.75m and can't be happy to see buldermar turn up [Kc][Kd], dominating marado86's [Js][Jd]. The [2c][Ts][2h] flop wasn't what marado86 was looking for, but the [Jc] on the turn turned his frown upside down. The [9d] gave marado86 an over 8m chip pot, taking over the chip lead from kloris83. On the very next hand, buldermar moved in the remaining chips with [Kh][Th], only kloris83 would call with [Kc][Jc]. The board came down [2c][6s][Ad][Qh][Kd}, earning buldermar $16,875 for the 7th place finish.

No Sunday Warm-up for Bear4arms

Four weeks ago, Bear4arms took down the Sunday Million for over $200,000, hoping to add another six-figure score tonight. Fifth in chips, bear4arms made a min-raise to 320k as kloris83 called from the big blind. The flop of [5s][7s][Qh] brought a bet of 456,789 from bear4rms, followed by a raise to 2.56m from kloris, almost enough to put Bear4rms all-in. Bear4rms 3-bet the remaining 171k, and kloris83 called, turning over [Kd][Qd], while Bear4rms showed [As][Ks]. No further help came on the [Th] turn and [2h] river meant a 6th place finish, good for $24,375 while kloris moved into the chip lead with nearly 10m in chips.

More chips for kloris83

Two hands later, kloris83 knocked out another player at the final table. Kashmirpoker had lost a huge 9m chip pot to ImDaNuts to fall to around 2m in chips. Seeing [Ad][Qh] under the gun five-handed looked like a really good time to shove, only to see kloris83 snap-call with [Kd][Ks]. The [9s][4d][3s][Jd][3c] board meant a 5th place finish, as kashmirpoker earned $41,875.

Let's try to make a deal

With four players remaining, the first discussion of a deal at the final table got underway with kloris83 looking to do a chip chop deal. After Team PokerStars Online's Steven Paul gave the figures for the deal ImDaNuts, 2nd in chips at the time, was asking for $100,000, well above the $82,000 that he would have been earned from the deal. After kloris83 attempted to negotiate ImDaNuts down to $90,000, a counter-offer of having the other three players give him $5,000, then $4,200, were all denied as play got underway again.

Taxidromos sent for a ride

With the blinds now at 100k/200k/20k, taxidromos eventually fell to under 10 big blinds before mounting a comeback, fueled by a double up with [Ac][Ts} against ImDaNuts [As][4d], eventually approaching the 6m chip mark to close the chip deficit against the other three players. Marado86 min-raised to 200k, followed by a call from taxidromos. The [5s][7c][8c] led to taxidromos check-raising all-in after for 5.3m after marado86 bet 480k. Marado86 had an overpair and a gutshot straight draw with [9c][9s], but taxidromos was looking great with [7s][7d]. However, this was marado86's tournament to win, hitting the straight as the [6c] appeared on the turn. The [Qh] on the river mean taxidromos would drive off with $43,125 for the 4th place finish.

ImDaNuts not danuts today

With ImDaNuts success in last week's Sunday Million, along with several other big finishes at PokerStars this year, you'd figure this would be his tournament to win. With the blinds now at 125k/250k/25k, ImDaNuts briefly held the lead when play was three-handed, but fell to under 3m in chips after kloris83 rivered a straight. ImDaNuts picked up [Js][Th] in the small blind and shoved, only to find marado86 wake up with [As][Ac] in the big blind. The board was [2d][Ts][9h][9s][Qc] and ImDaNuts had to settle for 3rd place money, $61,875.

Let's try to make a deal, part 2

Heads-up play began with kloris83 holding just a 300k chip lead over marado86 when talk of an even chop and playing for the remaining $10,000 began. After a brief discussion, marado86 wanted $100,000 and kloris83 declined.

Marado86's wins with the ace-highl

After a few hands of heads-up play, kloris83 had increased their chip lead slightly, holding 17.2m in chips to marado86's 14.6m. Kloris83 made a raise from the small blind to 600k, with marado86 making the call. On a [Js][4h][Th] flop, marado86 check-raised kloris83's 750k bet to 1.95m, with kloris83 making the call. The [2d] on the turn had marado86 betting 2.2m, as kloris83 called. The [2s] on the river had marado86 check-calling a bet kloris83's bet of 5.5m. Kloris revealed [Qh][9s] for a busted straight draw, while marado86 showed [Ad][5d] to take down a 20.55m chip pot with just ace-high. I leave it to the reader to decide how one could make such a call.

Marado86 straightens out a set to win

Facing a 4-1 chip deficit, kloris83 hung in for a few more hands, doubling up on what turned out to be the the next to last hand of the tournament, to get back up to nearly 12m in chips. The blinds were now at 150k/300k/30k and kloris in the big blind. After a min-raise to 600k, kloris83 re-raised to 1.2m as marado86 calls. On a flop of [Tc][7c][Js], kloris83 leads out with a 2.1m bet, with a raise to 4.8m from marado86, followed by a 3-bet all for kloris83, with marado86 making the call. When the cards were turned over, kloris83's [Ad][Ah] certainly didn't feel comfortable seeing the [9c][4c] for the gutshot and flush draws with two cards to come. The [As] was a good card for kloris83, but the [8h] on the river closed the book on this tournament, as kloris83 sees an additional $87,750 appear in his account, while marado86 takes down a first place prize of $117,750 to wrap up another exciting edition of the Sunday Warm-Up

$750,000 Guarantee Sunday Warm-Up results (07-04-10)>

1st marado86 (Gamsen) $117,750
2nd kloris83 (Nieuwoop) $87,750
3rd imdanuts (Las Vegas) $61,875
4th taxidromos (komotini) $43,125
5th kashmirpoker (Levanger) $31,875
6th Bear4rms (Knaresborough) $24,375
7th buldermar (Humlebæk) $16,875
8th Wing-Tsun (Otterstadt) $9,375
9th joemac17 (Coventry) $6,000

The 4th of July holiday in the United States meant a smaller field than what is usually expected for the Sunday Warm-Up this afternoon. The field of 3,189 players meant an overlay of over $110,000 for the 495 players who made the money, with the winner taking down a hefty $117,750. Several members of Team PokerStars were part of the field, with Team PokerStars Online member Alvaro "VARICO" Ballesteros making a deep run in finishing 51st for $1,425. The only other Team PokerStars member to make the money was Anders "Donald" Hoyer Berg, 409th for $367.50.

Ace on the River, by marado86

With the field hand-for-hand at the final table bubble, it appeared marado86 would finish 10th, when he moved in with [Ac] [5s] from the small blind for 1.3m after joemac17's 230k raise with [4d][4s]. The flop looked good for joemac17: [3d][8c][8d], the [6c] on the turn gave marado86 more outs, but the [Ac] worked just fine to give him the double-up he needed. The final table bubble would burst at the other table, as buldermar's min-raise was followed by a shove by s0nny_bLacCk for just under 1.5m in chips. When buldermar snap-called with [Td][Ts}, s0nny_bLacCk's [Js][9s] weren't looking good, especially when the board ran out [7c][Qs][5h][9d][Ac], for the 10th place finish and more importantly for s0nny_bLacCk, $4,500 as the field was combined at lucky (for the winner) table 13 with the blinds at 50k/100k with a 10k ante.

Seat 1: kashmirpoker (2047286 in chips)
Seat 2: buldermar (4320046 in chips)
Seat 3: marado86 (2628530 in chips)
Seat 4: kloris83 (6755244 in chips)
Seat 5: ImDaNuts (3855557 in chips)
Seat 6: Wing-Tsun (2180924 in chips)
Seat 7: taxidromos (2872722 in chips)
Seat 8: joemac17 (2465683 in chips)
Seat 9: Bear4rms (4764008 in chips)

joemac17 flushed away

On the fifth hand of the final table, joemac17 was hoping to get some of the chips he had lost from marado86 during final table bubble play. Another raise to 230k from joemac17, and marado86 shoved (again) from the small blind for about 2.7m in chips. A quick call followed by joemac17 with [Ac][Kd], while marado86 was dominated with [As][9s]. The [5s][Qd][Ks] helped both players, but the [Ts] left joemac17 drawing dead. The [Qs] on the river just a footnote for the hand history as joemac7 will be wondering what he did to deserve finishing in 9th for $6,000.

ImDaNuts clips Wing-Tsun

The blinds had moved up to the 65k/130k/13k level when the next elimination took place after another two orbits of the final table. Wing-Tsun was the short stack with under 2m in chips, and shoved from under the gun with [Ac][Qh]. Action folded around the table until ImDaNuts double-fist pump-snapcalled with [Ks][Kd] from the big blind. The [6s][Ts][4s] flop left Wing-Tsun was drawing very slim. The [4c][9d] turn and river meant an 8th place finish, good for $9,375.

Buldermar binked, broken down

The blinds had now moved up to the 80/160/16k level with buldermar third in chips, and
primed to make a move. After a raise to 344k from kashmirpoker, buldermar smooth called, followed by a three-bet from marado86 to just under 1m. kashmirpoker gets out of the way, as buldermar moves in for the rest of his stack, over 3.75m. Marado86 calls for 2.75m and can't be happy to see buldermar turn up [Kc][Kd], dominating marado86's [Js][Jd]. The [2c][Ts][2h] flop wasn't what marado86 was looking for, but the [Jc] on the turn turned his frown upside down. The [9d] gave marado86 an over 8m chip pot, taking over the chip lead from kloris83. On the very next hand, buldermar moved in the remaining chips with [Kh][Th], only kloris83 would call with [Kc][Jc]. The board came down [2c][6s][Ad][Qh][Kd}, earning buldermar $16,875 for the 7th place finish.

No Sunday Warm-up for Bear4arms

Four weeks ago, Bear4arms took down the Sunday Million for over $200,000, hoping to add another six-figure score tonight. Fifth in chips, bear4arms made a min-raise to 320k as kloris83 called from the big blind. The flop of [5s][7s][Qh] brought a bet of 456,789 from bear4rms, followed by a raise to 2.56m from kloris, almost enough to put Bear4rms all-in. Bear4rms 3-bet the remaining 171k, and kloris83 called, turning over [Kd][Qd], while Bear4rms showed [As][Ks]. No further help came on the [Th] turn and [2h] river meant a 6th place finish, good for $24,375 while kloris moved into the chip lead with nearly 10m in chips.

More chips for kloris83

Two hands later, kloris83 knocked out another player at the final table. Kashmirpoker had lost a huge 9m chip pot to ImDaNuts to fall to around 2m in chips. Seeing [Ad][Qh] under the gun five-handed looked like a really good time to shove, only to see kloris83 snap-call with [Kd][Ks]. The [9s][4d][3s][Jd][3c] board meant a 5th place finish, as kashmirpoker earned $41,875.

Let's try to make a deal

With four players remaining, the first discussion of a deal at the final table got underway with kloris83 looking to do a chip chop deal. After Team PokerStars Online's Steven Paul gave the figures for the deal ImDaNuts, 2nd in chips at the time, was asking for $100,000, well above the $82,000 that he would have been earned from the deal. After kloris83 attempted to negotiate ImDaNuts down to $90,000, a counter-offer of having the other three players give him $5,000, then $4,200, were all denied as play got underway again.

Taxidromos sent for a ride

With the blinds now at 100k/200k/20k, taxidromos eventually fell to under 10 big blinds before mounting a comeback, fueled by a double up with [Ac][Ts} against ImDaNuts [As][4d], eventually approaching the 6m chip mark to close the chip deficit against the other three players. Marado86 min-raised to 200k, followed by a call from taxidromos. The [5s][7c][8c] led to taxidromos check-raising all-in after for 5.3m after marado86 bet 480k. Marado86 had an overpair and a gutshot straight draw with [9c][9s], but taxidromos was looking great with [7s][7d]. However, this was marado86's tournament to win, hitting the straight as the [6c] appeared on the turn. The [Qh] on the river mean taxidromos would drive off with $43,125 for the 4th place finish.

ImDaNuts not danuts today

With ImDaNuts success in last week's Sunday Million, along with several other big finishes at PokerStars this year, you'd figure this would be his tournament to win. With the blinds now at 125k/250k/25k, ImDaNuts briefly held the lead when play was three-handed, but fell to under 3m in chips after kloris83 rivered a straight. ImDaNuts picked up [Js][Th] in the small blind and shoved, only to find marado86 wake up with [As][Ac] in the big blind. The board was [2d][Ts][9h][9s][Qc] and ImDaNuts had to settle for 3rd place money, $61,875.

Let's try to make a deal, part 2

Heads-up play began with kloris83 holding just a 300k chip lead over marado86 when talk of an even chop and playing for the remaining $10,000 began. After a brief discussion, marado86 wanted $100,000 and kloris83 declined.

Marado86's wins with the ace-highl

After a few hands of heads-up play, kloris83 had increased their chip lead slightly, holding 17.2m in chips to marado86's 14.6m. Kloris83 made a raise from the small blind to 600k, with marado86 making the call. On a [Js][4h][Th] flop, marado86 check-raised kloris83's 750k bet to 1.95m, with kloris83 making the call. The [2d] on the turn had marado86 betting 2.2m, as kloris83 called. The [2s] on the river had marado86 check-calling a bet kloris83's bet of 5.5m. Kloris revealed [Qh][9s] for a busted straight draw, while marado86 showed [Ad][5d] to take down a 20.55m chip pot with just ace-high. I leave it to the reader to decide how one could make such a call.

Marado86 straightens out a set to win

Facing a 4-1 chip deficit, kloris83 hung in for a few more hands, doubling up on what turned out to be the the next to last hand of the tournament, to get back up to nearly 12m in chips. The blinds were now at 150k/300k/30k and kloris in the big blind. After a min-raise to 600k, kloris83 re-raised to 1.2m as marado86 calls. On a flop of [Tc][7c][Js], kloris83 leads out with a 2.1m bet, with a raise to 4.8m from marado86, followed by a 3-bet all for kloris83, with marado86 making the call. When the cards were turned over, kloris83's [Ad][Ah] certainly didn't feel comfortable seeing the [9c][4c] for the gutshot and flush draws with two cards to come. The [As] was a good card for kloris83, but the [8h] on the river closed the book on this tournament, as kloris83 sees an additional $87,750 appear in his account, while marado86 takes down a first place prize of $117,750 to wrap up another exciting edition of the Sunday Warm-Up

$750,000 Guarantee Sunday Warm-Up results (07-04-10)>

1st marado86 (Gamsen) $117,750
2nd kloris83 (Nieuwoop) $87,750
3rd imdanuts (Las Vegas) $61,875
4th taxidromos (komotini) $43,125
5th kashmirpoker (Levanger) $31,875
6th Bear4rms (Knaresborough) $24,375
7th buldermar (Humlebæk) $16,875
8th Wing-Tsun (Otterstadt) $9,375
9th joemac17 (Coventry) $6,000